Posted by Jordan Pusey
Have you been dragging your feet on adopting cloud printing? Or maybe you have a basic form of enterprise cloud printing in place but you’d really like to up your game?
Supporting the world’s most popular mobile operating system with full-featured Android cloud print functionality isn’t as daunting as it might sound. At PrinterLogic, we’ve earned a reputation for getting to grips with complex, enterprise-level printing challenges and making next-gen features like cloud printing accessible and cost-effective for even the most intricate print environments.
With PrinterLogic, you have two choices when it comes to implementing cloud print for Android phones and tablets: Mobile Printing and PrinterLogic SaaS (formerly PrinterCloud).
Mobile Printing for Cloud-Style Printing
Our on-premises Mobile Printing solution introduces many of the same features that you would expect from a dedicated cloud printing solution. PrinterLogic’s Mobile Printing doesn’t require you to install any client-side software, supports Android as well as any other mobile operating system, and also works with any printer—even legacy models. To print with an authorized mobile device, all a user has to do is tap the “Share” icon, then tap print, and finally select a PrinterLogic printer.
BYOD users have it just as easy. Instead of tapping the “Share” icon, they simply send their documents to a printer using proven and straightforward email-to-print functionality. Admins can set up specific printers with dedicated email addresses for this purpose, and they can place a whole host of restrictions on printing to prevent abuse—such as specifying which printer functions can be accessed (e.g., color, duplexing), and setting print quotas. Because email-to-print leverages your preferred mail service provider, you can even set up mail flow rules to limit the types of files that can be printed.
Mobile Printing’s BYOD and guest support mirrors true cloud printing in that mobile users have the ability to print to local printers even if they happen to be off-network at the time. And by making cloud printing as easy as emailing, users of any skill level can take advantage of cloud print for their Android phones without having to call the service desk for help.
PrinterLogic SaaS for True Cloud Printing
For an enterprise cloud printing solution that’s completely cloud-based, there’s PrinterLogic SaaS. Whereas our on-premises solution has a minimal footprint (as a matter of fact, it can radically shrink your print infrastructure by eliminating your print servers), PrinterLogic SaaS is a zero-footprint cloud solution. It delivers all of the same benefits, including centralized management that is both easier to use and more powerful than traditional print management solutions, seamless integration with your existing print environment (even virtual and remote environments like Citrix or VMware), comprehensive print auditing for macro- and micro-level oversight, and the elimination of scripting and GPOs while increasing the precision and flexibility of deployments across your entire organization. Naturally, it also provides effortless, built-in Android cloud print functionality.
One of the common drawbacks of cloud printing solutions is that printing can be impacted when the WAN connection is interrupted in any way. Not with PrinterLogic SaaS. In addition to cloud print for Android phones and other mobile devices, PrinterLogic SaaS provides reliable, high-availability direct IP printing for all your standard clients. Direct IP printing creates one-to-one connections between clients and printers, so even if the WAN connection is temporarily broken, end users can continue printing as usual.
The great thing is that neither PrinterLogic SaaS nor Mobile Printing is a one-trick pony that is only capable of providing Android cloud print functionality. Each is a full-featured solution that brings enterprise cloud printing to every mobile device in your organization, regardless of OS, and each is incredibly easy to manage as well as incredibly easy to use.